Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

The admin contact owns the domain. 


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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

You might want to try contacting the State`s Attorney`s office for the state in which the development company is registered.

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Before you take any hostile-appearing action, I.E. set fire to the bridge, get the Admin contact changed.  Lie if you need to.  Tell your web person that you`re ready to go online and you`re happy with the site and you want the admin contact "just for insurance" because your business relationship is fulfilled and finished and his services are no longer required.




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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

Without a written contract, the OP still has a trail of emails, payments and phone calls that show an expectation of work.  That said, without administrator rights to the domain, lying to a registrar to get ownership could place the OP on the wrong side of the law in court.

This is not about hiring locals only.  There are plenty of cases in which people have been defrauded by people in their own backyards, so let`s not be too idealistic about that.  What the lesson does show is that a contract with clearly defined milestones and deliverables can be invaluable in cases where things fall apart.

Again, gather all of your documents and speak about this with a professional legal advisor.  (And, please, with your lawyer, get someone well-recommended with whom you have clarity on what`s expected.)



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Tammi L. Coles
Archer Targeted Communication
ArcherTC.com
Follow me on Twitter @archertc

Tammi - I wasn`t saying to lie to the registrar.  Of course the OP should be completely up-front and honest with the registrar.  I meant lie to the web designer, if necessary.  Tell them anything to get the admin name changed on good terms.

OP - (your name? since you neither signed your post nor provided any profile data) - What registrar did you use and what is the domain name in question?  We`re trying to help you here, but we will need more information

Lawyer advice?  It would likely be a lot cheaper to pay the designer a "transfer fee" or whatever he wants to call it (termination of services bonus?) to get complete control of your domain.




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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

I would suggest searching for law sites related to this topic ..... perhaps you can get some free advice from an attorney on your options ..... maybe not, but worth a shot.


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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

My God,
Don`t we all sound like experts here... This is what I hate most about forums... you get all these clue-less people trying to give other`s advise.... How funny that is... a clue less person giving another clue-less person advise... isn`t that like "Calling the tea kettle black"...
 Fafa!,
Ok, so you say that the web site is 99% complete and that you can launch if you wanted to correct? So what is holding you back? Why not launch and try to get ahold of him in the mean time? I don`t think that a username and password is a big thing to cry over, try emailing him or you say you have a paper trail of conversations, and emails.

Have you ever tried revisiting all your emails? What if you do have the password and information but you don`t remember? This happened to me once.... and Boy did I feel Stupid afterwards.

At 99% complete, I don`t think it would be a good idea to kill a good relationship with your developer since he has delivered 99% of the work. at 7 Grand it sounds like a very large project. If that`s the case, don`t burn your bridges because if he developed the site, that means he has the blue prints to your site.

Which means, you might need him in the near future aside what all these clowns have to say on this forum, don`t take their advise, right off the bat I see two starving designers "Im not going to point fingers" that want your business, but do you think they can deliver?

The key to your game is, call him or them, be cool about it, and move on if that`s what you wish to do, but again.... he might be the only person that understands your site`s functionality and if he has delivered 99% of the project what are you crying about? Be glad that he delivered, One of my customers got burned for 10K and never even got a layout mock up.

Don`t be upset... what if something did happen to him or someone in his family? Have you been courteous to ask? or you don`t care about anything else than your username and password?

I`m not going to lie to you... I am a small time web designer.... Most of my client base comes from word of mouth... I don`t usually deal with large clients.... but if I found out that one of my clients wanted to take me to court, I would drop them like a bad habit. Fafaflo... You`re a scary person to do business with